The exemplary embodiment relates to methods for correcting a problem with a device, such as a printer. In particular, it relates to the interactions between a user and the device, which are informed by prior user interactions, thereby reducing the repetition of unsuccessful user actions.
Office printers and multifunction devices (MFDs) with printing capabilities are typically shared resources which are utilized by multiple users who have access to their services. When a printer malfunctions, a user will often attempt to solve the problem themselves before seeking the assistance of an experienced technician. Typical problems arise because of machine faults, such as paper jams, or poor print quality on the output documents, e.g., white lines on the paper. When a user has a problem with a printer, typically the user will first attempt to ascertain and fix the problem using whatever built-in diagnosis tools are provided with the printer. For some printers the built-in diagnostic tools may be in the form of a user manual or diagrams on the user interface showing possible locations of printer jams and out-of-supply notices. For printers linked to a personal computer, the install disk of the printer may include diagnostics in the form of a utility program to be run on the user's personal computer. Utility programs may offer suggestions for relatively minor problems, such as cleaning inkjets to improve print quality or how to ascertain a printer jam. Some of the problems can be readily solved by the users with the help of instructions provided by the printer or made available to the user by an on-line support system, such as a knowledge base. Sometimes the user is not able to solve the problem, and the assistance of local or remotely located technicians is sought.
Solving the problems encountered can be time consuming and frustrating for the users and costly for the owner of the printer in terms of technical services and loss of productivity. Diagnostic systems for identifying the cause of the malfunction and help systems associated with the printer can be of help to users in some instances. Machine problems commonly have escalating stages of solutions, either because the same symptoms may be caused by different faults with different solutions or the same fault may have a number of different solutions, some more simple than others. Thus, the online knowledge base of a printer typically shows a number of solutions which should be tried in order; with the simplest solutions being presented to the user first and gradually progressing to the most complex solutions. Not all problems/solutions may be available in the knowledge base. For example, instructions to clear a jam may be the first level for a fault that indicates a jam. However the problem may actually be caused by dirty sensors, so the next level of troubleshooting (which may not be shown on the printer), may be to clean the sensors.
Because of these different levels of solutions, a user trying a particular solution may not solve the problem. Thus, because of the shared usage of the printer, when a problem occurs, a number of users may follow the instructions provided by the printer yet be unable to solve the problem. Successive users may thus try to solve the problem without knowing of the prior failed attempts of other users. This can result in a waste of user's time, customer dissatisfaction, down time of the printer, and reduced trust in the instructions provided by the on-line support system.